Staal and Girardi

Staal really doesn't play like Girardi who was the blood and guts of that pairing literally and figuratively! They'll be an icestorm in July before Staal sacrifices his body blocking shots the way Girardi routinely does time and again. Girardi deserved the "A" but Staal got it due to his name.

Oi.

Maybe, just maybe, Staal got it because Tortorella is in the room, and knows how Staal is a leader, while the posters here do not?

Staal really doesn't play like Girardi who was the blood and guts of that pairing literally and figuratively! They'll be an icestorm in July before Staal sacrifices his body blocking shots the way Girardi routinely does time and again. Girardi deserved the "A" but Staal got it due to his name.

I am almost certain that was not why Staal was chosen.

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Clearly it was the only reason. He's only considered good because of his name, remember? If his name was Mark Stall, people would realize he's just a mediocre d-man.

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Maybe, just maybe, Staal got it because Tortorella is in the room, and knows how Staal is a leader, while the posters here do not?

But no. He got it because of his name.

Exactly. If they felt Jeff Woywitka is a great leader, he would get a letter even though his name sucks. Tortorella doesn't give a **** how popular anyone is. He treats everyone like how they deserve to be treated. I don't understand why people question captaincy. No one here knows how they act in the locker room.

McDonagh is not too far off from Staal imo. Not yet as good, but look at what he's doing. It's not a knock on Staal, it's just that McDonagh is really ****ing good. Can't argue with a +12 in 20 games playing 25 minutes a night against the best players in the league.

Defensively I think he has similar upside to Staal. Offensively he's got much higher upside. I'm talking about Duncan Keith type offensive upside (if you exclude his 69 point season)

I don't get why people have to bash Staal when talking about McDonagh. They're both going to be two of the better defensemen in the league. Remember that Marc is only 24. He's still got a long ways to go before he hits his prime

McDonagh is not too far off from Staal imo. Not yet as good, but look at what he's doing. It's not a knock on Staal, it's just that McDonagh is really ****ing good. Can't argue with a +12 in 20 games playing 25 minutes a night against the best players in the league.

Defensively I think he has similar upside to Staal. Offensively he's got much higher upside. I'm talking about Duncan Keith type offensive upside (if you exclude his 69 point season)

I don't get why people have to bash Staal when talking about McDonagh. They're both going to be two of the better defensemen in the league. Remember that Marc is only 24. He's still got a long ways to go before he hits his prime

I don't get it either. McDonagh may one day surpass Staal (and how awesome would that be?). The bashing of Staal, though, is just stupid.

It's amazing, you can never have a debate on here. God forbid you make a comment that's disliked around these parts, you're apparently "trolling". Sorry, I didn't realize there's a bunch of sports popes aka Mike Francesas on here that if they disagree with you you're wrong. As for the Staal debate, no one is saying he's not a top notch defensive shut down guy, what people are saying is he's being treated like he's Bobby Orr when he's not. Offensively he's peaked, and will never put up huge numbers. He also does make bad reads once in a while and gets caught. His balance is not the best either. This doesn't mean he sucks, he's garbage, no. Just pointing out reasons why he isn't a top 10 guy in my eyes

His name has something to do with it, don't be naïve. He was a 12th pick, his name is Staal and Girardi was undrafted! DUH!!

Torts gave Staal the A because of his name.

It all makes sense now.

And by "sense", I mean "what?". That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. This isn't Alex Ovechkin we're talking about here, Marc isn't even that big of a name. There's a reason Tortorella let Staal keep the A over a player like Prospal, who he absolutely adores, and it has nothing to do with name brand.

It's amazing, you can never have a debate on here. God forbid you make a comment that's disliked around these parts, you're apparently "trolling". Sorry, I didn't realize there's a bunch of sports popes aka Mike Francesas on here that if they disagree with you you're wrong. As for the Staal debate, no one is saying he's not a top notch defensive shut down guy, what people are saying is he's being treated like he's Bobby Orr when he's not. Offensively he's peaked, and will never put up huge numbers. He also does make bad reads once in a while and gets caught. His balance is not the best either. This doesn't mean he sucks, he's garbage, no. Just pointing out reasons why he isn't a top 10 guy in my eyes

Can you clarify how he's treated like Bobby Orr and by whom? I don't get it.

Jordan is suddenly better than Marc
McDonagh, and Girardi are miles ahead of Staal
Erixon hasn't been in the NHL yet
In a Defenseman, Offense is more important than defense
If you're under 21, your point is invalid
New York is the 2nd Biggest hockey market, even though we can barely fill our arena

Can you clarify how he's treated like Bobby Orr and by whom? I don't get it.

You sound like Tom Hanks in the board room meeting in the movie "Big." He's definitely treated different here because he has "two more famous brothers who made the league right out of the draft, are better and have been more successful the Marc. If you don't think that makes a difference on a team and thruout the league, you're sadly mistaken. I'd be willing to bet giving Staal the "A" came from Sather and not Torts because I think Torts is a bigger fan of Girardi's blue collar game.

You sound like Tom Hanks in the board room meeting in the movie "Big." He's definitely treated different here because he has "two more famous brothers who made the league right out of the draft, are better and have been more successful the Marc. If you don't think that makes a difference on a team and thruout the league, you're sadly mistaken. I'd be willing to bet giving Staal the "A" came from Sather and not Torts because I think Torts is a bigger fan of Girardi's blue collar game.